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"If Gazprom shuts down supplies to Ukraine for more than four days, the pipeline could lose pressure that will take weeks to rebuild,'' Weafer said in a Dec. 30 interview. "The longer it goes on, the more likely it is gas prices in Europe will surge on concerns about supply disruptions.''
news.bbc.co.uk...
EU nations have started to feel the impact of Russia's axeing of gas supplies to Ukraine, as Moscow accused Kiev of stealing EU supplies.
Hungary and Poland were the first EU states to have supplies disrupted.
[...]
Ukraine's prime minister has said his country has the right to take 15% of the remaining supplies in the pipelines as payment for transporting the gas to Western Europe.
Originally posted by Hellmutt
Ukraine needs gas to survive, it´s very cold there now.
Ukraine say they want to pay market price for the russian gas
but russia wanted 5 times the price which Ukraine found unacceptable.
Ukraine has insisted that Russian proposals - which would see the cost of importing Russian gas quadruple to between $220 and $230 per 1,000 cubic metres - are unacceptable.
Ukraine says it is happy to pay market rates, but wants price increases to be phased in gradually over several years.
Russia claims Ukraine is now stealing gas intended for Europe and that is probably the case as well.
Russia says it will pump more gas to Europe after various countries said their supplies had fallen by up to 40% after Moscow cut Ukraine's provision.
France, Italy, Germany and Poland were among those reporting falling volumes.
Russia said it was sending an extra 95m cubic metres a day to make up for gas "stolen" by Ukraine.
But Ukraine is desperate and they don´t have much choice I guess.
Gazprom has dismissed a claim by Ukraine that it is legally entitled to take 15% of Russian gas which is piped across Ukraine on route for western Europe.
Ukraine has warned Russia that it may seek international arbitration over their worsening row over gas prices......
......Since the 1970s, the Stockholm Institute has become an established body for settling commercial disputes between countries of the former Soviet Union and other nations.
Both Russia and the Ukraine are signatories to the 1958 Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, so any would-be decision by the Institute in the case would be legally binding.
What would you do if you were in their situation?
Originally posted by sminkeypinkey
Why should they expect any special treatment?
Russia and Ukraine have settled a row over gas prices which disrupted supplies to several European countries.
Under the five-year deal, Ukraine will buy Russian and Central Asian gas for $95 per 1,000 cubic metres on average.......
......Gazprom will sell Russian gas to Rosukrenergo for $230 for 1,000 cubic metres from 1 January, but the company will also supply Ukraine with much cheaper gas from Turkmenistan.
The overall price Ukraine will pay will be $95 per 1,000 cubic metres. It will also get paid 47% more for transporting Russian gas to Europe.
Previously, Ukraine bought gas from both Turkmenistan and Russia at a price of $50 per 1,000 cubic metres.
Originally posted by StellarX
Did the Russians intend this as a warning to Europe and not actually at the Ukrain?
Originally posted by sminkeypinkey
Firstly because the obvious differences between Russia and the Ukraine are real and have been simmering for some time and secondly because Europe is at a point where future energy strategies are being developed right now and this would be spectatcularly stupid and badly timed if the Russians were attempting to manipulate things to their advantage.
If Europe is to take any sort of 'warning' from this it is one that will move European policy in a direction which would not be to Russia's selfish advantage.
If you want a conspiracy angle on this
how about one where we can say that Russia has just moved in a way that might start to shift European public opinion and that it is possibly to help promote a new round nuclear power stations all across Europe when previously there was absolutely no public appetite for such things?
Originally posted by StellarX
As far as i can tell Europe has real and growing energy problems
i do not think that shots across the bow from Russia will be able to force the Europeans out of the dependence on Gas and oil anymore than all the problems in the ME so far has
but wich government will risk the added cost of such transition?
I think the Russians hid this one very well and made their point clear without the public probably realising anything other than just how important Russia still is.
Originally posted by sminkeypinkey
Rumours of this being the start to what some seem to insist are the supposedly coming' energy wars' would appear to be much exaggerated!
Ukraine's parliament has voted in favour of sacking the government over its recent gas deal with Russia.
Ukraine agreed to double its payments to Russia for gas after Moscow switched off its supplies for three days on 1 January demanding a four-fold hike.
Ukraine's former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has launched a legal challenge against the energy deal.
The no-confidence vote marks the second time in six months that a Ukrainian government has been sacked.
Originally posted by Gools
Ukraine's parliament has voted in favour of sacking the government over its recent gas deal with Russia.
Move along now, nothing to see here...
Originally posted by sminkeypinkey
- Agreed, but then don't 'we' all?
They don't.
They need their buyers (and their buyers money) just as much as we need the product.
......and besides I am far from convinced this was anything like a 'shot across the bows' and certainly not one pointed at Europe.
- But that is my point; several countries are, right now, formulating new policies.
In the UK we are likely to have an almighty row over commissioning some new nuclear reactors, I don't expect us to be alone in that.
- I wouldn't be so sure; 'we' have already seen large gas lines laid down between Russia and the west and there is at least one more enormous one to follow next year (IIRC).......which avoids the Ukraine completely ( ).